WINNING STILL
A rare look into the psyches of athletes under lockdown
How have athletes stayed mentally fit during the pandemic, when events have been cancelled and nobody can move?
Some of the country’s top names in sports turned to a creative writing workshop by Rock Ed Philippines founder Gang Badoy-Capati and the late renowned sports journalist Rico Navarro.
The result of the workshop is Winning Still, an upcoming book of essays by those athletes, including Olympians Hidilyn Diaz and Akiko Thomson, two-time billiards world champion Rubilen Amit, Jiu Jitsu World champion Meggie Ochoa, football star Jed Diamante, and coaches Jong Uichico, Sandy Arespacochaga and Haydee M. Ong.
I spoke with Gang about the process behind making the book.
How did the idea come about?
GANG BADOY-CAPATI: Because of the pandemic, our group from the Mindanao Peace Games decided to hold a series of learning sessions on Zoom, and bottom line for all of that was mental wellness, which is what I do. At first, it was just for athletes, but we realized that we couldn’t do it without the coaches, etc. So represented talaga lahat.
The prompt for them was: “There’s a pandemic — and it’s your first time to write (because none of them are really published). What would you really want to send out there, now that you have time?”
‘How lucky are we? We got front seats to this Olympics in print; we get to see the game these athletes got that no one has ever seen just yet,’ publisher Gang Badoy-Capati writes in the book’s introduction.
By time I meant, walang games, na-cancel yung Olympics, kakatapos lang ng SEA Games, no one can ensayo, no one can go out. Basically, these are athletes who are fast and strong, and they were asked to sit still on Zoom. Writing was how they stayed mentally fit at a time when they couldn’t move. And then we came up with 24 essays.
When you gave them that prompt, what sort of responses were you expecting? And what responses surprised you?
At first, I thought, “Baka mahirapan tayo, baka pare-pareho ang mga to” — that they’ll talk about when they won or when they lost, because that’s what you expect, right? But what came back — which surprised me — is that they talked about the ordinary things.
The ensayo, the waking up at five in the morning to jog. That’s the championship part pala, and not so much the podium finishes that we are used to seeing. I learned that we really should be developing the character of athletes, and the medals are happy byproducts.
Jong Uichico wrote about that day that he slugged a basketball player from Australia, and he does it so earnestly, saying “I was actually ashamed to face my kids.” Hidilyn Diaz’s essay is about why she wears lipstick when she lifts. Essays like these are really so rare. And by the way, we also have recordings of all 24 athletes reading their work.
What can sports fans pick up from the book, and what can people who aren’t so interested in sports learn from it?
By reading these essays, sports fans get to be in the same state of mind as our athletes. It gives us even more reason to cheer them on, wear the same jersey, and be one nation.
For non-sports fans, the essays may inspire you to move, which is important in everybody’s mental wellness. Actually, you cannot address your mental health without getting your body to move. We can’t think ourselves out of a bad season. Oftentimes, even just a walk will make a difference.
Why did you decide to self-publish this book? For a quarantine project, that’s a huge undertaking.
This is my banana bread. (Laughs.) When we were thinking of approaching sponsors, I overheard someone saying, “If we go to Funder A or Publisher B, then we may not include Athlete C.” I didn’t want that, so I computed what I would have spent for traveling over two years, and put that into this book.
What has been the most fulfilling part of the process for you?
What a privilege it has been to see these athletes operating outside of their court. When we started, many of them said, “Ma’am, hindi ako writer” or “Hindi ako pumasa d’yan.” I really saw the hesitation, but then I saw the learning curve, the grit of the athletes, to say, “I’m going to finish this essay.”
It’s also my way of reminding people that books exist, and they might have saved you over the pandemic, and they will still always save you and print will never go away.
I first met you in 2006, when Rock Ed Philippines was just beginning. How have this project, the pandemic, and perhaps even the last few years, changed you?
We’re not as flailing and all over the place as before — like large concerts; eight at the same time in the MRT. When I was younger, I had to be loud and romantic and be seen a lot.
Now, I just want to be here, and it doesn’t have to be exciting all the time. If love can go from passionate lovemaking in the early years to making coffee for your partner in the morning, maybe the same is true for protest. Like love, your protest also morphs into other forms.
I think this book is my protest. It seems like it’s far from the front lines of the battle for change because it’s a book on sports, but actually, it’s right in the fight. We’re fighting to stay proud of ourselves, so I sought people that will make me proud to be Filipino.
The athlete knows there is genius in repetition, wisdom in teamwork, humility in victory, and pride despite defeat. I really believe that for every government official that embarrasses us as a nation, an athlete more than makes up for it and balances us out.
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Winning Still will be launched on June 25, 2021. It is a project of Rock Ed Philippines in partnership with Mindanao Peace Games, Ateneo de Davao, Viviamo, and Project: Steady Asia (the mental health program that takes care of athletes via the POC Athletes’ Commission).
The book features 24 essays by Geraldine Bernardo, Marissa Guinto, Hidilyn Diaz, Gang Badoy-Capati, Haydee Ong, Pearl Managuelod, Akiko Thomson-Guevara, Marielle Benitez, Isabella Fernando, Ada Milby, Meggie Ochoa, Rubilen Amit, Gianne dela Cruz, Oliver Almadro, Jong Uichico, Jed Diamante, Russel Raypon, Victor Africa, Stax Savellano, Paul Supan, Sandy Arespacochaga, Rebo Saguisag, Azlie Guro, Robbie de Vera, Popoy Navarro, Hernando Planells, and Noli Ayo, with artwork by Alessandra Lanot.